Osco relatives react to decision

Victim's family disappointed prosecutors won't try case again.

Victim's family disappointed prosecutors won't try case again.

December 22, 2006|PATRICK M. O'CONNELL Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Two relatives of Scott Dick, one of three Osco employees killed inside a South Bend store in August 1990, expressed disappointment Thursday in prosecutors' decision not to retry Christopher Allen. Dick, 29, an assistant manager; pharmacist Tracy Holvoet, 25; and clerk Connie Zalewski, 43, were gunned down inside the Western Avenue Osco store. Allen, a former manager at the store who was fired for stealing about five months before the slayings, was tried three times after murder charges were filed against him in 1999. One of Dick's sisters, Sheri Keck of Fishers, Ind., said in an e-mail exchange with The Tribune that she is "very upset" with the decision not to go to trial a fourth time. "My brother Scott, Connie and Tracy (and to a lesser extent their families and the community at large) have been denied justice and are now at greater risk," Keck wrote. Keck also expressed frustration with the politics surrounding the trials, the delay in filing charges and the appeals process. Allen's first and third trials ended in hung juries. The second jury convicted Allen, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Prosecutors announced Wednesday they are not going to pursue another trial. Dick's daughter, Megan Dick, said she and her mother are disappointed, but she also wrote "it is probably for the best." "It saddens me that this is how it is ending, but I know my dad would want us all to move on with our lives," Dick wrote. "In my book, Chris Allen is guilty because he has never been proven innocent." "I am happy that we did get to have our day in court three times and get one conviction. That one conviction proves to me that he is guilty. One day he will finally be able to pay for what he has done. It is in God's hands now." Unless new evidence is discovered in connection with the case, prosecutors said, Allen, 43, will not be tried again for the crimes. For earlier articles on this case, see southbendtribune.com. Staff writer Patrick M. O'Connell: poconnell@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6357